Dozens of school buses cancelled, rain warning issued

Dozens of school buses have been cancelled and others are diverted in areas worst affected by flooding on Wednesday as many schools resume after the Christmas holidays.

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said hundreds of pupils were affected by the diversions and a full list of disrupted services can be found on their website.

Several school bus services have been cancelled in counties Cavan and Monaghan, while road diversions are in place across counties Mayo, Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Sligo, Galway, Cork and Kerry, among others which are likely to cause delays.

The situation is being monitored and it is not yet known when the services will be able to return to normal.

Met Éireann has issued a national status yellow rain warning from noon until 11pm on Wednesday which is expected to bring up to 25mm of rainfall.

Met Éireann has also warned of flash flooding in parts of the country previously unaffected such as Monaghan, Cavan and parts of Louth.

The ESB on Wednesday said water levels in Lough Derg had decreased marginally in the past 24 hours and as a result the discharge of water through Parteen Weir will remain at 470 cubic metres per second (cumecs).

The ESB said this level of water flow continued to have the potential to cause flooding along the Shannon downstream of Parteen Weir.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 1 or 0 degrees in some places overnight, bringing a risk of frost to all parts of the country, with Ulster due to be the worst affected.

Many roads in Munster and Leinster remain flooded. If you come across flooding while driving, AA Roadwatch has the following advice:

“Don’t attempt to drive through the flooding if you can’t tell how deep it is. If you have to drive through standing water make sure you drive slowly, use a low gear and keep the revs high”.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said the Government was trying to help those who are flooded by providing help from the Defence Forces and SME funding for business.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Wednesday, the Minister said the Air Corps had helped farmers in south Galway deliver feed to their animals by helicopter across 15 flooded farms.

The Government’s bill to cope with Ireland’s flood damage is expected to exceed €100 million.

This tally emerged after the European Commission rejected charges that Brussels policies have contributed to the flooding, saying it is up to each European Union state to manage its own rivers.

Nearly €60 million will be needed to fix damaged roads and bridges, but Ministers fear the bill could be significantly more. Local authorities will receive €10 million, in addition to the €8 million already agreed to help with the clean-up.

The Cabinet discussed the flooding crisis on Tuesday.

Local property tax

Householders affected by flooding, however, will have to pay local property tax, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has insisted, though they could change the valuations of their homes to reduce the tax due.

This includes people who believe their homes are now worthless, meaning they would not be liable for any property tax, said Mr Noonan.

The Department of Agriculture is to put in place a hardship scheme for farmers struggling to cope with fields under water for months, including an offer to pay full price for damaged fodder.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has demanded to meet insurance companies in Government Buildings next Tuesday to hear explanations on why so many people in flood-risk districts are refused cover.

Facing demands for a single statutory authority to take charge of the Shannon, the Cabinet agreed to set up a co-ordination group. Its terms of reference will be agreed within two weeks.

A study of the river’s risks, the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management’s report, will be published in summer – but this may require hundreds of engineering works.

Forecasting

The establishment of a long-term flood forecasting system which would involve 15 extra staff between Met Éireann and the Office of Public Works was also agreed.

“[It] will be an invaluable tool in informing government agencies and local services of when and how large a flood might be and to facilitate early action to mitigate any flooding risks,” Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly said.

Defending itself, the European Commission said dredging “is not always the solution for flooding”, saying it may solve local problems by carrying them downstream to other communities.